We're well into week of World Cup 2022 is almost over. Who will eventually emerge victorious? At this stage it's hard to say but we think that we can safely say that sadly... It may not be England! We don't mean to be pessimistic but this comes from having our hopes raised and dashed too many times, and still trying to get over the heartache of the previous World/European Cup. Many of us who were born after 1966 have resigned ourselves to the fact that we'll probably never see England lift World Cup trophy in our lifetime. Which makes many of us wish we were born before 1966 just to see this victory! We have however seen England make it to the finals at least three times since 1966 so I suppose we'll just have to console ourselves with that!
So, in a bid to cheer up dubious England fans and to instill a sense of hope, We thought we'd share four of our favourite awe-inspiring England World Cup anthems. There was always a great deal of excitement when the official England World Cup songs were released. Us kids would eagerly watch Top Of The Pops to check out the new tune and the feelings of anticipation and excitement were infectious - could this really be England's year?
The tradition of the England World Cup songs began in 1966. The songs were released with the approval of the Football Association to coincide with the England national football team's participation in the finals of the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. Some of the official songs were surprisingly overshadowed by unofficial songs released around the same time. For the last World Cup in 2018, there was surprisingly no official England World Cup song commissioned for that year, but prior to that, the 2014 offering was Noble England was sung by the late Rik Mayall, who sadly passed away the same year, making the song all the more poignant.
So here are four official and unofficial England World Cup anthems that get us into the footballing spirit as we hope that maybe this year, it'll be England's year!
1. Vindaloo, Fat Les
Released in 1998, this actually eclipsed the official song (How Does It Feel To Be) On Top Of The World, written by Ian McCulloch and performed by England United (Echo and the Bunnymen, Space, Spice Girls, Simon Fowler.) To be honest it wasn't really much of a surprise as although the England United song is a great tune, it lacked that special something. Whereas Fat Les's Vindaloo was humourous and is exactly the kind of thing you'd sing in the pub after a few pints. Performed by British band Fat Les, the music was written by Blur bassist Alex James while the lyrics were written by Keith Allen (lilly and Alfie's dad!) Although it's mainly just a series of chants and "nah-nah-nahs", the song has remained a cult classic.
2. Three Lions, The Lightning Seeds/Baddiel & Skinner
Believe it or not, Fat Les's anthem wasn't the only unofficial tune that year to outdo the official England World Cup song. Three Lions, written by Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, was originally released in 1996 as the official song for UEFA European Championship. It was such a hit, it was brought out again two years later for the World Cup, though not as the official song. Not that it mattered too much because everyone thought it was! And to be honest it's pretty much remained England's anthem for every tournament - the lyrics say it all. It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming - football's coming home... OK so it never does, but we can always hope!
3. World In Motion, New Order feat. The England Squad
I don't care what anyone says; this should be the song the players sing before the start of the match not the national anthem (no disrespect.) If ever there was an upbeat number to get you fired up and cause some damage on the pitch, this would be it. The only problem would be that the players would squabble over who should do Barnesy's rap! Released in 1990 for the FIFA World Cup, it was written by New Order and Keith Allen, and topped the charts. This tune is my joint fave along with Three Lions, and brings back so many wonderful memories. How I long for it to be 1990 again!
4. Goldenballs (Mr. Beckham To You) Bell and Spurling
OK, so this wasn't actually an official or unofficial song for any football tournament, but rather an ode to David Beckham, who was a fantastic footballer and icon, and the George Best of my generation (but without the excess!) by comedy duo Martin Bell and Johnny Spurling. It was released in 2002 and only got as far as number 25 in the charts, but I still reckon it's a great tune. My then twelve year old brother could not stop singing the chorus which drove us all mad but as I said - top tune!
And now - let's see who makes it to the finals!
COME ON, ENGLAND!!! DO US PROUD, YOU LIONS!!!
Photos: YouTube
Blog graphics: Angel Noire
All great tunes but give me a big plate of vindaloo any day!
Definitely a Three Lions girl, me!
Three Lions every time, come on! But Vinderloo is a great laugh!
Always loved football. I'm lucky that where I live there's a big British community so we definitely get World Cup fever when it comes around. I remember when World in Motion came out. Everyone went nuts about that song. But then Three Lions came along and it pretty much took over everything!
During World Cup time, our house blasts all these tunes out. We clearly don't have a favourite!